Photo missions: what you really check on a shelf

Asking for “a photo of the shelf” is not enough. You will get photos taken too close, too far away, against the light, or of the wrong shelf. And the operator checking them will have no criteria to go on, so he will approve everything, or reject at random.

A useful mission rests on two short texts: the brief, for the shop, and the checklist, for the review. They must say the same thing.

The brief: one sentence, one framing

The shop manager reads the brief standing up, between two customers. It has to fit in one sentence and say where to take the photo from. For example: “Photograph the whole paper shelf, from the front, two steps back. We need to see the prices.”

Add an example photo whenever you can. It replaces three paragraphs of explanation.

The checklist: four criteria, not fifteen

Each criterion must be checkable at a glance, with a yes or a no. The four we use most often:

• Products facing forward. The products in the range are visible, labels towards the customer.
• Prices displayed. At least one price can be read on the brand's products.
• Promotion visible. The display, the poster or the shelf wobbler is in the frame.
• Shelf stocked. No obvious gap where the brand should be.

Beyond five criteria, operators stop reading them. If you need more detail, run two missions.

Approve, ask for a redo, or reject

Three decisions are enough. You approve when every criterion is met. You ask for a redo when the photo is unusable but the shop is acting in good faith: blurred, too dark, framed on the wrong unit. You reject when the core criterion is not met, or when the photo is not theirs.

A “Redo” must always carry a reason the shop manager can read. It is also a way of training the network: after two or three rounds of feedback, the photos get noticeably better.

Borderline cases

• The photo is good but the display has been moved next to the till. If the brief was about visibility and not location, approve. If not, the brief was badly written.
• The displayed price is higher than the recommended price. The mission was about displaying the price: approve, and pass the information on to the sales rep.
• The same photo as last week. Ask for a redo once, with a clear note. The second time, reject.
• A competitor takes up half the space. Approve if your criteria are met. And make a note: this is exactly the kind of information the programme should bring back.

How long it takes

With a four-point checklist and keyboard shortcuts, a decent photo takes a few seconds. It is the borderline cases that take time, and there are fewer of them as the briefs get sharper.

In Loyaltix, the moderation queue shows the photo, the checklist and any duplicates on the same screen. But the method works with any tool, including a plain shared folder.